


Isolated System

by Froglady15



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: F/M, Humor, Romance, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-03
Updated: 2013-11-03
Packaged: 2017-12-31 10:02:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1030372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Froglady15/pseuds/Froglady15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is my version of what happened before the androids came onto the scene. Set some time after Cell and before the Buu Saga… Written mostly in Vegeta's point of view and a bit in Bulma's here and there. This is a lengthy one-shot in which Vegeta remembers and contemplates the events leading up to how he and Bulma got together and his life with Bulma and Trunks up to this point in the original DBZ Universe all the while stalking his prey/wife… All characters and the timeline are cannon to the best of my ability with a few things added on here and there for entertainment value since Mr. Toriyama decided to not say how these two hot-headed individuals came together. In which case it's awesome, cause us fans can have fun with it! Rated M for sexual content.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Isolated System

**Author's Note:**

> This has been given a Mature rating for a reason and contains smut towards the end. So if you are not old enough to be reading of such things or are not comfortable, please do not continue. You have been warned. I will however, post another warning before things get hot and heavy.
> 
> Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything. Just my Husband, laptop, my 3 dogs and a very overactive imagination… Dragon Ball Z and any songs mentioned DO NOT belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own twisted amusement.

**Isolated System**

Vegeta shut down the gravity simulation late in the morning. He'd had enough for today, even though it was extremely early for him. He exited and walked into the Capsule Corporation, the building he now begrudgingly called "home". It had taken years, but he had finally accepted it. There was nowhere else for him to go. Truth be told, he had threatened to leave many many times; had even packed his few belongings but could never bring himself to actually leave. As much as he hated to admit it, this mudball planet had grown on him. That wasn't the only thing that had grown on him.

The Woman had grown on him. The Woman and the son they shared together had both somehow wormed their way into his cold, once thought dead heart. It had taken him a long time to come to that realization too. He had fought it with every fiber of his being. He was not a domesticated family man like that fool, Kakarott. He had been a seasoned warrior; cold and ruthless in demeanor, not caring for anyone or anything but himself.

He had not been raised to know how to raise and take care of a family of his own. He had been taken from his father when he had been a mere boy. He had no memory of his mother and could only vaguely remember his father. The memories he did have of him had been of lessons on how to rule an empire and learning to quickly defend himself from him. His father had been ruthless in his teachings of battle with him. He had begun his training almost the day he had learned to walk. His father had expected him to keep up with a vigorous training routine next to him; it had been keep up or be prepared to receive a beating. At the time, it had been brutal and difficult for a young child to be expected to keep up, but in hindsight had been the best thing his father had ever done for him. It had instilled in him the desire to always be better than his opponent and to never back down from anyone or anything. When he had been given over to Lord Frieza, little had both he and his father known how valuable those seemingly harsh lessons had been for him. Had his father coddled him in any way shape or form, he would surely have never made it past a year in Frieza's service.

Vegeta walked into the kitchen and took a quick look in the fridge. He grabbed the remaining two spring rolls from last night's dinner and polished them off promptly. He hadn't had much of a work out, but that did not mean he hadn't worked up an appetite. At least food here was almost always available at his disposal. No more scraping for half rations for him! He had learned quickly while on Frieza's ship to eat as much as you could while you could because who knew when you'd be getting your next meal. Yes, those had surely been the worst years of his life he mused, heading up the stairs.

He had grown into the hardened, cold man he was today. As much as he despised being included into the fold as one of the "good guys" with these blasted humans, even he had to admit that compared to the life he'd lived under Frieza's service, it really wasn't so bad. He had the Woman to thank for that. She was the one who had opened up her home to him. To this day her acceptance and willingness to help him baffled him. It was in that time he had let her grow on him. He hadn't even noticed at first. By the time he had, it had been too late for him.

In the beginning, he had enjoyed tormenting her. It had initially begun as a way of venting out his own frustrations in life. His life had not turned out the way he had imagined. He was the last prince of a dead race. The only Saiyan that remained had been Kakarott and he was nothing more than a fool and disgrace to the Saiyan race in the way in which he carried himself. Not only had he seen himself as the last remaining "true" Saiyan, but he had been robbed of his pride by not slaying Frieza with his own hands. That had been a right he had seen as reserved for him and him alone. Not by some clown of a Saiyan warrior who had had it easy growing up. He'd had no concept what so ever of what it had been like for him. Now that he had no birthright, no home planet to call his own, lost his right to avenge his father and people and to add salt to the wound, he was forced to accept help and a home from a weak human female. In his resentment and bitterness, he had found much amusement in tormenting her at every possible opportunity and every possible situation that presented itself.

She had been such an easy target. She was almost as much of a hot head as he himself was. He had learned quickly all the right buttons to push to get a rise out of her and made a point of doing so at least once a day for his own amusement. The way she would fly off the handle, sometimes throw things at him in her rage; even the witty mean-spirited comments she always threw back at him during their verbal sparring matches kept him on his toes. She was the only person on this whole planet unafraid to speak her mind to him and had a fast quick-thinking mind that rivaled his own intelligence.

After many months of venting out his personal frustrations on her, he had noticed in himself the need to vent out a very different frustration on her. One that was almost foreign to him. He had begun to notice how attractive she was. He had always thought her to be an extremely attractive woman. He had taken note of her beauty from the first moment he had seen her on Namek and had entertained the brief notion of taking her for himself then. However, the attraction had been broken almost as quickly as it had begun once she had opened her big mouth and then began stupidly mooning over Zarbon. He had more or less dismissed her at that point as another stupid female.

He wasn't exactly sure when it was, but he had begun to notice her true beauty, not only her physical beauty. She was the first person to be truly kind to him without expecting anything in return and never revoked that kindness or invitation to remain in her home no matter how cruel and unreasonable he had been to her. He had mocked her to no end in her efforts to get to know him. Yet she persisted. He found himself intrigued by her. On one hand she would screech and scream at him until he thought his ear drums would burst. Yet if he needed her to come fix the gravity room she would be there to do it as promptly as possible, setting aside everything else; even time with the weakling.

Vegeta smirked now at the memory of how many fights between them he had caused, especially when he began to detect the scents of other women on him. Once he had clued into the fact that the weakling had been unfaithful to her not only once, but on multiple occasions with multiple partners, he'd taken great delight in foiling any plans she made with him. He'd even admit that he had at times created a problem when he knew she was getting ready to see Yamcha. One particular time, he remembered she had been more than excited for an evening out. She had taken the day off to get her hair done and something called a manicure and pedicure. He had honestly needed the gravity room repaired, however it was something he had known could most likely wait until the next day and it had only happened near the end of his training session. He had been winding down anyway. Still, he could not resist the urge to pester her and demand it be done immediately. After about forty five minutes of arguing and insults being thrown back and forth, she had cancelled her plans and agreed to do it. He knew he was being completely unreasonable, yet could not refrain from the opportunity for an adrenaline rush from a good argument with her. That, and the fact that he did not want her wasting any more time on the fool; though to this day would never admit to it.

The more he got to know her, the more intrigued he became with her. He found himself unable to concentrate on anything besides her. Especially once she had finally ended her relationship with Yamcha. The night that had happened, they'd had a huge argument before she had gone out to meet up with the weakling; he could not remember what it had been about, but as per the norm, he had started it. She had been gone a few hours and returned upset and had been a mess. He had been devouring the rest of the leftovers from dinner and she came into the kitchen, completely ignoring him. He had even made a few smartass comments to her and still she hadn't risen to his baiting. Upon further investigation, he noticed her makeup had been smudged as though she had been crying. She quickly knocked back a few shots of some kind of alcohol, bid him good night and left him in the kitchen without incident. He had been so shocked and dare he say concerned he had decided to check in on her after he had finished his evening snack.

He had berated himself for even giving her a second thought. It wasn't his business; however he had never seen her sad. Happy, excited, tired. Angry and pissed off most certainly; but never sad. It had bothered him. The fact that it even bothered him bothered him even more! It had bothered him so much that it had prompted him to go check on her so that it would stop bothering him. He landed on the balcony of her bedroom, which had become a favorite brooding spot for him in recent weeks. He would look in on her while she slept. It had started shortly after he had begun to notice and appreciate how beautiful she really was. If he had known where it would eventually lead him, he would not have allowed himself to linger there nearly every night when sleep would not come to him. It had been the beginning of his obsession and eventual attraction to her. He had seen it as harmless at the time. He wasn't doing anything; just watching her. He even argued that the view and cross breeze on her balcony was better than it was on his. He had even entertained the idea of demanding she switch living quarters with him just to see how long she would argue with him about it before she gave in. For some reason he had never instigated that one.

He had quietly walked into her room and observed her already in bed, crying quietly to herself. Even now, he had no idea whatever possessed him, but he had gone to her. She hadn't noticed him at first and when she had, he had been greeted with a string of insults, accusations and curses. She certainly had a very colorful vocabulary for an upper class woman. He had let her continue her rant and for once did not return the vicious words and comebacks he usually would in such a case. He simply crossed his arms, leaned on the side of the wall opposite from her bed and asked her what had happened with the weakling.

She had been shocked that he would even have the wherewithal to even ask her. However, she humored him with an equally long and colorful rant, much to his amusement. When she finished, they had both moved out onto her balcony and were leaning against the rails, their arms and shoulders just barely touching. She had calmed down enough that their conversation had evolved somewhat and they had both ended up sharing different noteworthy events in their lives. He hadn't known what he had been thinking, or why he had even stayed there as long as he had after confirming that she was fine. He remembered realizing at that moment that it had to be the first actual real conversation they'd ever had. They had both grown silent and a moment had passed between them; she had leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. It had been the kindest, gentlest gesture he had ever experienced from another being. His first instinct had been to scowl at her and insult her for her audacity at taking such a freedom on his person, but instead he took her chin and kissed her back. To his surprise, she had not recoiled from him or slapped him as he had seen on the entertainment programs he knew the woman enjoyed; but she kissed him back. Shyly at first, but then grew bolder and slid her tongue into his mouth, lightly brushing his own. It had been at that moment that he abruptly ended the kiss and took to the sky as fast as he could to get as far away as he could from her.

Vegeta shook his head now at the memory of it. He took off his training clothes and stepped into the shower to wash away the remnants of his brief work out. He set the water as hot as it would go.

After he had taken off, he hadn't returned for three days. He had contemplated everything from stealing another one of her father's ships again and leaving, never to return to blowing up this whole backwards planet. In the end, he returned with a firm resolve to leave her alone. The harder he had worked at having nothing to do with her, the more consumed he seemed to become with her. He had found himself daydreaming of what else she could do to him with that mouth and soft lips of hers, while he trained relentlessly. He abused and berated himself unforgivingly for allowing her to distract him that much. Never had he allowed a female to hold his attention for more than a fleeting moment. He had had access to women on Frieza's ship but had never once indulged. First and foremost his pride would not allow him to take a woman to his bed that had been used a countless number of times by the filthy creatures on Frieza's ship. Secondly, why waste valuable time fucking when he could be training to defeat Frieza? To him it was a frivolous activity and a complete waste of time. The question plagued him why was he aching for a need that he never had before? And why her? She had been used by the weakling. However unappealing that thought had been to him, it still hadn't been a big enough deterrent.

Within a few weeks, things had gotten back to normal for them. They bickered and argued as usual, though it was still different. There was an underlying edge to it. He couldn't identify it at the time, but he now knew what it had been. Sexual frustration. It soon became a new game for them. She would strut around in revealing clothing around him, purposely taunting him and finding any excuse to bend over in front of him either showing off her ample cleavage or firm bum; and he would resort to either suggestive dialogue or simply ignoring her all together, never giving her the satisfaction of knowing how much she really did affect him.

It was a vicious game that both played ruthlessly at for months before they both finally caved and gave in to one another. He would never forget it. They had both been in a horrible mood that day. She had been at the lab and had just come home; he was angry that the gravity room had malfunctioned yet again. He demanded she fix it despite her whining that she was tired after a long day at the lab. So began the usual verbal spar of shouting and abusive speech; nothing out of the ordinary. He still wasn't quite sure what exactly it was. She had just come back from the lab, so she hadn't been dressed provocatively, her hair was a mess and any makeup she may have been wearing had long since worn off throughout the day. In any case, he'd had enough and the only thing he had thought to do was throw her over his shoulder, take her to his quarters and finally have his way with her. She had objected, threatened and screeched all the way back to his quarters, of course. He hadn't expected anything less from her. However, once he had made his intentions clear to her, she had quickly dropped the angry façade. He had taken her repeatedly for nearly two days. She had called in sick and the only time they had left had been for food. They slept together, ate together and had even bathed together those two days. It had been such an intimate and dare he say "normal" experience for him. He had found that he actually enjoyed her company even when all they had done was watch TV for a few hours between their strenuous carnal activities.

He finally decided he had gotten his fill of her. Surly he had gotten her out of his system! He had been wrong. His need and desire for her had only been intensified. He had been angry about it; even blamed her for making him want her. However, he still abstained and did not return to her bed again. Within a few weeks it became apparent that he had gotten her with child and cursed his stupidity.

They'd had a heated discussion about it and that was when he left to train in space. He had known that by leaving he was hurting her, yet was too selfish and afraid to care. What kind of father would he make? What brief childhood he'd had had been full of violence and brutality. The woman would never allow him to raise their child the way his father had raised him. He did not know if his father had been right or wrong, the only thing he did know was it was the only thing he knew. What could he possibly have to offer a child? The only life lessons he had learned was to kill or be killed because only the strong survive.

He remained in space many months, working his hardest to achieve his goal. Had nearly died in doing so, but achieved it none the less. He had reasoned to himself when he had returned that should they save the planet from these androids, he would train the boy once he was old enough if the woman would let him. It was the only thing he had to offer. He had no idea that he would be fulfilling his silent vow sooner rather than later when it had turned out that the mysterious boy from the future was the future version of his son.

Trunks. He was a taller version the spitting image of him, though had purple hair and eyes identical to those of his mother. To his everlasting shame, even to this day, he did nothing but push him away. He refused to even acknowledge him as his son. Even when he had trained in the hyperbolic time chamber, he hadn't had much to do with him, though he had monitored the boy's progress carefully and deep down was proud that his son was as powerful as he was. The woman had obviously done an excellent job in raising him, further proving to him that he had nothing to offer the baby at home. In the other time line, he had died not too long from now anyway. However, it picked at him that it had been Kakarott's son that had trained him. Towards the final few weeks in the time chamber he had relented a bit and trained with his son, finally accepting him. How he wished now that he had spent more time. The boy had practically worshipped the ground he walked on. No doubt the woman had talked him up all those years but all the same. He should have been more patient. He hadn't even realized how much he'd cared about him until Cell had killed him.

Now that Cell and the Androids were no more and Trunks had been revived and sent back to his own timeline, here he was stuck here with a woman and young son who he still had no idea how to interact with. Outside of training, he still really didn't have much to do with him. It was the only thing he knew. The Woman had him in school now. He was smart and respectful; much smarter than that second spawn of Kakarott. He wondered how Gohan had turned out to be so smart and the other one completely void of any sense whatsoever.

Speaking of which, Trunks was currently at Goten's for the weekend. The Woman's parents were away as well. That meant they had the place all to themselves. He quickly finished his shower and dried himself off with his ki and searched for the Woman's energy signal. She was in the lab on the compound working from here. That was convenient. He thought to himself with a wicked gleam in his eye. He changed into a black flight suit and stalked off to find her.

-0-0-0-

Bulma sighed and finished her third or fourth cup of coffee that morning. She had gotten up early and had been working hard on new battle droids for Vegeta. She was almost done, just ironing out a few bugs and then she would give them to him so that he could most likely destroy them within a few hours and mock her efforts and inferior designs. She shook her head wondering why she even bothered anymore. He was never happy with anything she ever did do and it wasn't like there was some impending doom headed their way. With the androids and Cell gone, life had been relatively peaceful these past few years. Trunks was doing well. Even Vegeta had settled in surprisingly enough. If anyone would have told her years ago that one day she and Vegeta would be in a more or less stable relationship raising their son together she would have laughed until she cried and told them to get off whatever drugs they had been smoking.

True, it still wasn't an ideal situation. Vegeta was still very uncomfortable around his son and adverse towards showing any type of affection what so ever towards either of them; especially in any type of public setting. However, she saw and appreciated the effort he did put in with Trunks. He had come leaps and bounds. What helped was that Trunks absolutely idolized his father and practically begged him to train with him on a daily basis. Vegeta always put up an irritated front, insisting that all he did was get in his way and slow him down, but she knew deep down he was glad to spend time with his son and teach him. Even if it was the only thing he insisted he knew. She always shook her head at how he constantly devalued himself and the influence he had on their son. She knew he tried to keep that influence as minimal as possible but it was almost impossible. Trunks absolutely adored his father and did everything he could to emulate him, right down to Vegeta's trade mark smirk and scowl. It was uncanny how much they looked alike and even all the subtle mannerisms they shared without realizing it. If it weren't for the purple hair, Trunks would have been a mini-Vegeta she thought with a laugh.

Without realizing it, Vegeta had instilled a strong positive work ethic into their son; the unrelenting drive and desire to always strive for perfection no matter what the task and that stubborn sense of unwavering pride that she was sure one day would rival his father's. Bulma wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She hoped one day he would share with Trunks the history of his Saiyan heritage. Trunks kept asking her and she herself didn't know much but for the odd tidbit of information Vegeta had seen fit to tell her every once in a blue moon on one of the very rare occasions she caught him in a chatty mood. However even then, he still tended to be very vague.

Bulma looked up from her work station suddenly as she thought she had heard something. Of course there was no one there. Her parents were out on a robotics convention, Trunks was spending the weekend with Goten and Chi-Chi and Vegeta would still be holed up in his gravity chamber for several more hours. He knew they were all alone this weekend. If she was lucky, he would finish his work out early and have dinner with her. She had even gone out and bought some new lingerie for him for the occasion.

Their love life had been sad to say the least these past several weeks. She had just been too busy in the lab between keeping up with the heavy demands of the company and wanting to get these new battle droids done for Vegeta, she felt like she was working two full time jobs. She hadn't even seen that much of Trunks come to think of it. She sighed. It was only going to get worse. He father was slowly passing more responsibilities on to her in hopes of retiring within the next few years.

Bulma shook her head and decided she deserved a lunch break. She left her lab casually and headed back towards the main compound. Maybe Vegeta would like some lunch as well and take a break from training, she thought. She turned around and looked behind her shoulder again, getting that odd feeling that she was being watched or followed. She knew she was being absolutely ridiculous and continued towards her destination. Maybe she had been working herself way too hard. She should quit early today and take some time for herself.

She decided to take a detour towards the gravity room to see if Vegeta wanted any lunch, but stopped mid-way when she realized it wasn't running. That was odd. Was it broken? She was more than sure if it was, she'd have heard about it by now. He was never one for letting that go for any length of time. Nonetheless, she made her way towards it. Maybe he was still in there.

Bulma stepped into the gravity room cautiously. "Vegeta?" she called out. It seemed to be empty. Huh. Odd indeed. She shrieked as the gravity room door slammed shut behind her. "Vegeta! You ass!" she shouted at him, whirling around to face the door, ready to give him a vicious tongue lashing of a lifetime, but he wasn't there. She quickly ran to the door and looked out the window. He most certainly wasn't there. Maybe the wind had forced it shut. That was a possibility. If it had been him, he'd be there laughing his criggs off at her for her apparent lack of self-preservation and not realizing he was even there to begin with. She yanked the door open quickly, just in case he happened to be there, but again found herself to be alone.

She shrugged and headed quickly to the kitchen. She was really starting to scare herself. She made it to the kitchen. "Vegeta?" she called out. "Would you like some lunch?" again, she got no response. Maybe he was in the shower she assumed and decided to make him a sandwich as well.

She began getting out the bread, condiments and sandwich meat and began making sandwiches. She had finished one when she heard a creek and looked up. "Hello?" she said, waking towards the exit of the kitchen and looking up the hall stairs and then in the dining room. As she suspected, empty.

"Vegeta, if that's you messing around, quit it! I'm not in the mood." She called out. She didn't hear the shower on upstairs, so he mustn't have been there. "Whatever." She mumbled to herself retreating back to the kitchen.

She made it back to the kitchen counter where she had been making sandwiches only to notice the one she had finished was gone. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously and looked around the kitchen. "Alright, very funny. Where are you, Vegeta?" again, she got no response. Not so much as a peep. "This is getting stupid now! If you wanted a sandwich, you should have just asked. Stop screwing around, Vegeta! I know you're stalking me! It's childish. Not funny!"

Bulma sighed heavily in annoyance when she was rewarded yet again with no response. "Whatever. Make your own lunch if you're going to be an ass." She mumbled to herself while quickly slapping a sandwich together and grabbing a pop. She began to head back to her lab, silently fuming to herself that Vegeta thought she was dumb enough to fall for his childish games.

-0-0-0-

Vegeta quickly gulped down the sandwich he had swiped off the counter and sat on the roof of Capsule Corporation. He chuckled to himself as he watched her scurry back to her lab in a huff. He knew she knew it was him. Who else would it be? However he was having fun messing around with her in the meantime. The urge to piss her off was far too much for him to resist. He had done this to her once before, a very long time ago. The gravity room had been broken and parts wouldn't arrive until the next day so he had been bored beyond belief. He had stalked her all day. She hadn't realized it was him until he finally went in for the kill. She had been so rattled and freaked out that she had hit him so hard she had fractured her own wrist. It had been worth it though he thought with a smirk. She was always more fun in bed when she was pissed off with him. Not to say she wasn't great when she wasn't mad at him; he always had a good time when they were together. That part of their relationship had never been a problem for either of them. However when she was mad at him, he had to really work for it. He enjoyed the thrill of the chase. Making her succumb and give into him was the biggest high he could ever get. Not to mention an ego boost. She was almost always willing and he appreciated that and in turn always made it worth her while. But on the odd occasion that she denied him, usually because she was pissed off with him, it only made him want her more. He knew it was sick to a degree, but what could he say? It reminded him of the silly little games they used to play with each other. Only they'd both lost.

He took note of her energy signal and lay back on the roof for a quick nap, enjoying the warm sun on his skin. She would more than likely be in there until it got dark. If she left early, he would know. Either way, then he would continue his fun then.

-0-0-0-

A few hours later, Vegeta sat up on the roof, taking note that Bulma was leaving her lab. So she had decided to quit early, but not that early. It was already dark. Good. He thought with a smirk. He planned on keeping her more than occupied all evening. She had been neglecting her wifely duties where he had been concerned these past several weeks and he intended to rectify that this weekend and remind her of what some of those "duties" were. Especially with all distractions and possible interruptions removed.

With that in mind, he carefully left his spot on the roof so that he would not be spotted by the unsuspecting woman down below. It was time to resume his game.

-0-0-0-

Bulma reached the kitchen and began flipping through the different takeout and delivery menus. Originally, she had wanted to actually make something for him for dinner, but then decided that she wasn't feeling quite that ambitious tonight; maybe tomorrow night. She wasn't sure what to get or what she was even in the mood for. She wondered briefly what he would want. Seeing as he wasn't around to consult, she chose Italian. That was always a safe bet. She placed her order and headed up the stairs to their bedroom.

He wasn't there either. She began to worry somewhat. It wasn't like him to just up and disappear. Not in the last few years anyway. Even the odd time he did leave to train or brood in the wilderness for a few days, he at least usually let her know. Even if it was mere moments before he took off. She shook her head and decided on a quick shower to freshen up a bit. She was sure he would conveniently appear when the food arrived.

Once in the shower, she relaxed. She had been so stressed out and tense. Her neck and shoulders sagged as the feeling of the warm water soothed her. She grabbed her favorite shampoo and began washing her hair. She was beginning to feel more than relaxed when the lights finally shut off in the bathroom, leaving her standing there in the shower in pitch black.

"What the hell, Vegeta?!" Just when she had finally convinced herself that he must have gotten bored and found something else to do or someone else to torment, here he was all over again annoying her with one of his stupid games. "Can't you find something normal to do in your spare time, like I don't know, pick up a book maybe?" she shouted, quickly rinsing her hair off and cursing her husband; so much for a relaxing shower.

Once she was done, she shut off the water and carefully stumbled out of the bathtub, nearly tripping. She reached over to the wall where the light switch was to turn the lights back on, but nothing happened. She flipped the switch a few times and found herself still surrounded by complete darkness. "Huh. That's odd." She said to herself. Maybe Vegeta wasn't tormenting her after all. She felt around the dark surroundings of the bathroom and found her towel, wrapping herself up and opening the door to find her bedroom was also pitch black. She was sure she had left the light on.

Walking to where the door would have been, she went for the light switch and had the same result as in the bathroom. The power must have been out. But why? There was no storm outside or workers nearby to her knowledge.

Still clad in nothing more than her towel, Bulma left their bedroom and began walking down the hall uneasily. Something was very wrong. Not even the safety lights powered by the backup generator were on. She couldn't see anything. She swallowed down her panic, and began to think. The backup generator was in the next building over. She would have to get there and figure out what the problem was. It couldn't be that bad. She turned around and began feeling the walls and walking back to the bedroom. She needed to find her house coat if she had to go outside.

Unfortunately after a few minutes of crawling around on the floor, feeling around for it she gave up trying to find it. Whatever. It's not like there were tons of people hanging around Capsule Corporation. Especially at this time of evening. Maybe she could find Vegeta and get him to take her to the generator. Speaking of which, where the hell was he?

She stood back up in the middle of their room and swore she felt a breeze subtly brush by her. She spun around but saw nothing or no one. "Vegeta? Are you in here?" she asked. Silence followed. "No. of course not!" she mumbled to herself sarcastically and walked carefully back to the door.

She walked slowly down the hall with her hand on the wall and her other hand out in front of her. She never realized how dark the house actually was! She made note to make sure her mother placed in more windows the next time she decided to renovate. This was ridiculous! She could not see anything.

She screeched as she fell on the floor. Thankfully she had placed her hands in front of her before making contact with the ground. What the hell? She looked around, even though she could not see anything. It had felt like she had been pushed. Not hard. Okay, maybe just nudged. She listened carefully and heard nothing but the sound of her own breathing. Okay, maybe not nudged. Maybe she just tripped.

-0-0-0-

Vegeta followed his prey from their bedroom and into the hallway, always strategically making sure he was a few feet behind her. After all he only wanted to rattle her, not have her fall down the stairs and break her neck. He fought the urge to chuckle to himself as he watched her. Never before had he seen such a weak species! What species could not see in the dark? His superior vision was immaculate. He could see just as well in the dark as in the light. Even some of the more inferior animals on this planet had night vision from what he'd learned watching the odd television program. Why not the most sentient beings of this planet? It was ludicrous.

He followed her down the hall as she carefully walked, uneasily. He shook his head at her. How many times had she walked this hallway? She should have been able to do it blind. She had to know that there would not be any obstructions in front of her and that the stairs were almost exactly forty paces from the bedroom. Yet she was walking slowly, feeling in front of her like it was foreign territory. Oh yes, he was going to have more fun with this than he initially thought.

With that in mind, he carefully nudged her on the small of her back and stepped away immediately. He had barely touched her and only where her body had been covered by the towel. Yet she fell as easily as if he had shoved her. He stepped away and leaned against the wall opposite of her, trying his hardest not to laugh at her. She was looking around aimlessly, clearly wondering if she had been pushed or if she fell due to her own clumsiness. However, she got back up quickly and began feeling her way down the hall towards the stairs which weren't far.

He watched her closely as she descended the stairs without incident. Once again, he only wanted to have some fun and scare her a little; not have to take her to the hospital. She felt her way into the kitchen and to the first drawer in the counter by the entry way. She opened it and began rifling through it. He smirked triumphantly at his foresight. There was always a flashlight kept in that drawer. He had removed it and simply placed it on the counter not a foot away from her, where she would most likely not find it since it was so dark.

-0-0-0-

"What the hell?" she commented to herself. She had made it down to the kitchen without falling down the stairs thankfully. She found the emergency drawer that usually held everything from spare batteries to a first aid kit, emergency phone numbers and a flash light. However the flashlight wasn't there. It was always there!

She gasped as she almost felt another breeze. Almost as if someone were breathing down her neck. She spun around again and shot her fist out, but caught nothing but air. She stood there another moment listening carefully and heard nothing but silence. As she stood there she noticed the aroma of food close by.

Alright. The delivery guy must have come while she was in the shower and Vegeta must have paid him or it wouldn't be here, which meant his royal pain-in-the-assness had to be lurking around here somewhere. He was such a prick sometimes! She looked out the window and frowned when she noticed that none of the lights outside were on either. No wonder it was so dark! In that case, without a flash light and/or without Vegeta, she would ever find her way into the other building and find the generator or be able to turn it on. She had only done it once and that was years ago. She'd had to read the instructions and do it manually. Not that it was hard, but if she couldn't see, then how would she be able to do it?

"Vegeta! I know you're here somewhere. You obviously paid the delivery guy. I'm not that dumb. Come on out." She said in an irritated tone. If he seriously thought this was funny, he had another thing coming to him! He could spend the rest of the weekend sleeping in his precious gravity chamber!

She looked at the table and could see the very vague outline of the table. She couldn't see anything on it, but she could see the table. He wasn't there stuffing his face from what she could tell. That was a shocker. She sighed heavily and decided to go back up the stairs. Her cell phone was up there. That would provide a bit of light and she could call and find out what was going on and maybe find out when the power would be expected to come back on.

Bulma turned around carefully and started making her way back up the stairs. She did it without incident. She began the journey back down the long hall way back to their bedroom when she collided head on into a firm, warm wall.

-0-0-0-

Vegeta floated up the stairs as he watched her begin climbing them. He wondered what she was doing now. Why come back up here? She hadn't even attempted to look for him that hard. He'd had fun thinking up all sorts of humorous scenarios, following her around the house. Scaring the crap out of her to the point where she'd throw something at him. Now she put the damper on that by heading back up stairs.

He decided to speed this up and quickly formulated a new strategy and form of attack. She wasn't playing along like he had hoped. That was the problem with being with a smart woman. She usually figured things out quickly and then refused to just go along with it for his entertainment. He could usually get away with something like this once and then that was it. She was on to him.

He decided to stand in the middle of the hallway with his arms crossed, waiting for her. She would run right into him and then she would be at his mercy. He smirked at the possibilities. He could tell she was annoyed.

He stood there patiently as she slowly made her way closer to him and then she ran right into him. He caught her quickly with his strong arms before she fell and before she could react, he spun her around and hauled her up against the wall so that her back was to him and her front pressed firmly to it. He had one hand firmly on her hip, keeping her in place and the other over her mouth so she wouldn't start screeching at him.

He chuckled darkly into her ear. To his surprise, she did not fight him at all.

"You seem to be lost." He said to her in a very low tone. She made no form of response. He let the hand on her hip slide down the towel and began caressing the smooth skin of her bare thigh. "It's a good thing I found you." He said, inching his hand back up her inner thigh and in between her legs.

He inhaled and took in her scent. Her hair was still damp and smelled of fruit and flowers from whatever shampoo she had decided to use. He did not know why she always used such scented products. Her own natural scent was much more enticing to him than any of the chemicals she liked to bathe herself in and spray on herself. He had asked her long ago to refrain from spraying herself with that expensive perfume fake pheromone crap that humans seemed to like so much. It only clashed with her own natural scent and either gave him a headache or made his nose burn.

He skimmed his nose down the length of her neck, inhaling her again and smirked triumphantly to himself when he caught the scent of her arousal. That had taken almost no prompting on his part. He had irritated her most of the day and here with little effort she wanted him just like that. He nipped the back of her neck. "What am I to do with you?" he asked, removing his other hand from her mouth and sliding it down, gripping the towel and ripping it away, tossing it to the ground. He placed his hand back onto her hip and pushed her back against the wall, leaning his large form into her so she could feel his erection through his black spandex against her bum.

She leaned back a bit into him and licked her lips. "I don't know." She replied while trying to keep her breathing under control as his other hand moved slowly around her front, but never touching her where she wanted him to. "What are you going to do with me?"

"Hmmn." He replied, still skimming his nose up the side of her neck and breathing into her ear and lightly nipping it. "Not sure yet." He said bringing both his hands to rest on her hips and pulling her back side into him somewhat roughly. "I was considering taking you right now, up against this wall especially seeing as I have you in such a vulnerable position."

"Oh." She replied lightly, trying not to smile. He had obviously not planned any further than annoying her all day and then pouncing on her. She leaned her head back against his shoulder and nipped the side of his jaw. "Well, in that case you'd better come up with a plan," She said, wanting to leave it up to him. This was his game she decided and she would play along, however as the moments passed it seemed like he really didn't seem to know where he was going with this so she decided to help him out a bit.

"And do it quick. Before my husband shows up. He's around here somewhere and he won't be too happy if he sees you touching his woman so intimately. He is very possessive of his belongings."

He smirked at her. He had been thinking along those lines, but hadn't been sure if she would go along with it. She never ceased to amaze him. "Is that so?"

"It is." She nodded. "He's big and strong. He'll kick your ass."

"Well then, maybe we should take this elsewhere." He suggested, grabbing her arms and holding them behind her and escorting her down the hall as though she were his prisoner.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked honestly. She knew they would have passed their bedroom by now.

"That is not your concern." He replied harshly, opening a door and shoving her inside the dark, black room.

**Authors note: Mature, adult-only content. Lemon.**

She shrieked as he picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder and dumped her carelessly on a bed. She wasn't sure, but she assumed that this must have been his old bedroom before he finally agreed to share a room with her. She had left everything in there in case he ever decided he preferred that. It was so dark in the room she again could see nothing. He had insisted on heavy dark curtains when he had first claimed this room as his. No light what so ever could shine through. It was pitch black.

She knew he was here somewhere, but could not see or even hear him. She knew he was stalking her again and was waiting for the moment where he would pounce on her. She sat up and looked around again trying to pinpoint his location, but could not. She began to sweat and her heart began to race in anticipation of his eventual attack.

He disposed quickly of his clothing and walked around slowly to the other side of the bed, smirking to himself while trying to decide where to attack her from. He settled on the left side, or her right. He crawled on the bed and pushed her down on her back quickly before she had a moment to resist, pinning her down helplessly below him.

Vegeta licked up the side of her neck slowly and nipped her earlobe. Smirking as she gasped at him. He decided he'd had enough teasing and playing around. He had been anticipating taking her this way all afternoon. He took both her hands and held them over her head with his left hand, chuckling as she tried her best to free her hands. He knew she loved to touch him. Run her hands up and down his arms, chest and abdomen. He loved the feeling of it too, however decided that he was in control of this situation and therefore denied her. He parted her legs with on one his and took his member in his right hand and began teasing her wet entrance with it. He rubbed the head of his member along her folds slowly, torturing them both. He rubbed it against her clit and smirked in satisfaction as she moaned and tried all the harder to free her hands from his grasp. He knew she hated it when he teased her like this.

After another moment or two even he could not take it anymore. He plunged himself into her in one swift, fluid motion. They both moaned at the contact. He then placed his other hand over top of her head, lacing his fingers through her other hand so that they were still both over top of her head and began to move in and out of her slowly. He knew she liked it like that.

His lips met hers and he alternated kissing her deeply and nipping her lower lip, enjoying how she moaned and writhed beneath him. He sped up his pace when she wrapped her long legs tightly around his waist, signalling to him that she wanted him to go faster. It did not take long with the pace they had set that the both moaned loudly as they climaxed together.

He let her hands go and instantly she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. One hand buried itself in his thick dark hair. She loved his hair; it fascinated her to no end. It looked stiff and hard, but it was soft and always stayed the same. Her other hand travelled down from his neck and across his back. She ran it up and down soothingly as though she were comforting him, gently scratching him with her nails and marveling at the feeling of the corded, well developed muscles beneath his soft skin.

Once he'd caught his breath, he rested his upper body on his elbows and looked down at her. Still after all this time, he wasn't bored of her. He admitted that he was still just as attracted to her as he was that first time he'd seen her on Namek. Little had he known in that moment back then that she would turn out to be the most important being in his life. He would never be romantic; he would never tell her how much she actually meant to him and he would most certainly never tell her he loved her. He was truly grateful that she wasn't one of those women who needed to be told that every day or that he had to shower her with gifts constantly he smirked at her in memory of one such day.

They had been lying in bed after a vigorous session, much like they were now. The first time she had told him she loved him; he had scoffed bitterly at her for uttering such a fowl sentiment. When she had gotten upset and insisted that she knew he had felt the same and couldn't understand why he refused to acknowledge it, he had simply replied: "We have a son."

At which, she frowned at him and said "Uhm, yeah. So?"

"You do not walk up to me every day or two or three times a day and say "We have a son." Do you?"

"No."

"Exactly." He nodded. "You do not need to. It is simply a statement of obvious fact. You do not need to tell me we have a son because we both already know we have a son. We have a son and his name is Trunks."

She looked at him and blinked a few times before a small smile graced her face; the tip of her tongue just peeking out barely on the side of her mouth. She chuckled at him and nodded. "We have a son."

"Indeed." He had replied, quickly getting dressed before she humiliated him further. He could not believe he had said all of that to her. Now she knew and he could not take it back ever. He had worried for a moment that she would use this new information and use it against him. He had even contemplated leaving for good just then.

"We have a son, just like you have a Gravity Room and just like we live at Capsule Corporation and you are the Prince of all Saiyans." She said slowly to him, giving him a look that had made his ears start to burn red from embarrassment. She had figured it out.

"That is correct." He had replied gruffly. "Your point?"

"No point." She had said innocently, still trying to hide that sly smile that was threatening to take over that mouth of hers. "Just stating the obvious facts is all."

"Hmmn." He had grumbled and left her bedroom in a huff to go and brood for a few hours and decide what to do.

Fortunately for him, she had accepted his explanation and never once pushed or pestered him to say that putrid statement ever again. She had never smothered him or used it against him. Nothing had changed between them. For that he had always been thankful to her for. He had been on this planet long enough and had observed enough Earth couples to know that he had lucked out in his choice of female companion. He smirked again at the memory.

"What's so funny?" she asked, taking him out of his thoughts.

"Nothing." He shook his head. "Just observing the fact that we have a son is all."

She smiled at him, immediately recognizing the reference and kissed him. "Yes we do. And there is dinner downstairs that is getting cold. That's another obvious fact."

"True, however I am not quite finished with you yet." He said and kissed her deeply, making her want him all over again.


	2. Blouse Off Shoulder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another one-shot set in the 3yrs before the androids and before Bulma and Vegeta get together. If you read Isolated System, I am working from the events I laid out in Vegeta's reminiscence from that plot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just something I put together very quickly on my day off one afternoon. I was inspired by a movie I was half watching while working on another fic. There was like a 2 min scene that I loved with this girl wearing a classy white suit trying to seduce and entrap this guy… I fell in love with it and found it rather amusing and Voilà! I actually wasn't going to post this, but then proofread it the next morning and thought what the hell…?
> 
> This one has no lemon, just fluff… Enjoy!

**Disclaimer** : I don't own anything. Just my Husband, laptop, my 3 dogs and a very overactive imagination… Dragon Ball Z and any songs mentioned in this fic DO NOT belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own twisted amusement.

_**Blouse Off Shoulder** _

He watched her. He always watched her; unbeknownst to her.

On this occasion she was bustling around Capsule Corporation in a huff for tonight's event. She and her father were unveiling some new line of new and improved products to this year's lineup. It was what she had called a "launch party" or something. She had tried to convince him to come along as her escort or something silly now that she had parted ways with the Weakling a few months ago. She had promised him an abundance of food, however there would be lots of people there so not even the prospect of endless amounts of food was enough to pique his interest.

She looked beautiful; sophisticated. Sexy; yet still professional. Dainty and delicate. Her makeup flawless yet not too overdone. Her hair was up in an elegant French twist, nails and lips a bright crimson red making for a classic, timeless look that went perfect with her white designer suit. At first glance the suit was plain, but on further observation it was obvious she was not wearing a blouse or camisole beneath the jacket. It fit her snugly in the shoulders, bust and waist, accentuating her petite figure and flaring out in all the right spots to still give the appearance that she was indeed curvy. The front came together in a deep V with a single white boa to keep her jacket closed. It was low enough to be daring and almost borderline risqué, yet high enough still that it covered enough to be somehow professional enough that she could get away with it for tonight's event. The white matching skirt also fit tight like a pencil skirt. In the front it came down to her knee, but in the back it dropped down, ending at her calves. She paired it off with nude fishnet stockings and white Christian Laboutin stiletto pumps. She was ready to go.

He watched her from the open door of the Gravity Room, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed as she headed out to the limo at the end of the long driveway. Her parents were already waiting for her. He smirked to himself as he watched her walk. He liked watching her walk. She walked with a graceful air of confidence that could never be squelched no matter how bad a day she was having. Her head was always held high, shoulders back. He was always mesmerized by the gentle feminine sway of her hips.

Vegeta waited until the limo left and was out of sight before exiting the Gravity Room and heading to the house. Mrs. Briefs had made a generous feast for him. A plate piled high with fresh spring rolls, two still-hot casserole dishes of lasagna, a fresh loaf of bread, a large bowl of some kind of salad that he wrinkled his nose at when looking at it; he was a Saiyan, not a rabbit. There was also a fresh pan of his favorite warm cinnamon rolls. All for him! He did not have much use for the Woman's ditzy mother and usually made a point of avoiding her at all costs, but he certainly could not deny the woman was a fantastic cook. Unfortunately, Bulma had inherited all of her father's scientific genius and none of her mother's culinary skills.

He headed up the stairs to his bedroom for a shower and change of clothes before tackling the feast left for him. He noticed the finely pressed black suit, white shirt and black tie hanging up on his bathroom door knob. The Woman's mothers doing, obviously. He looked at it and tossed it aside carelessly on his bed. He was looking forward the peace and quiet of an empty house; no one to bother him.

Vegeta set the shower to as hot as it would go and quickly washed off the evidence of his training session that day. He was very pleased with his progress he had made today. He was able to flawlessly handle five hundred times normal gravity now. It was time to ask the Woman to upgrade it. He still was not a Super Saiyan. He could not understand it! Kakarott had achieved it while training under only one hundred times normal gravity. What was it going to take for him to finally achieve his ascension? It plagued him day by day. It was in his blood, why was it eluding him? Yet it came so easily to a third class clown of a warrior? He banged his fist on the tile in the shower in his frustration, cracking it in the process.

"Shit." He mumbled to himself and quickly finished washing up and exited quickly before he made an even bigger mess.

He dried himself off with his ki and pulled out a grey pair of sweat pants and a black tight-fitting V-necked t-shirt. He made his way back downstairs and dug into the delicious feast waiting there for him. He quickly finished off the plate of spring rolls, two casserole dishes of lasagna, half the loaf of bread; skipped on the salad and went on to the cinnamon rolls, leaving a few behind for a snack later on.

Once finished, he wandered around the house for something to do. He liked the silence; basked in it really. However, there wasn't anything to do. Usually he at least had the Woman to torment. She would usually be watching some ridiculous program on the tv. In moments of boredom such as these, he would take great amusement in making fun of the stupidity of the plot lines of some of her most favorite programs. There were even one or two she didn't even bother watching anymore because she claimed he had "ruined" them for her. He chuckled at one such regular program she used to be hooked on and was no longer, apparently because of him. He was apparently responsible. He actually missed that program. Not because he actually liked it but the stupidity of it was incredibly entertaining to him. That and mocking it while the Woman tried to watch it made for good sport. Sometimes she'd toss a pillow or even the tv remote at him in her frustration.

Vegeta slouched onto the couch lazily, pointing the remote to the large tv. He surfed the channels for what felt like forever. There wasn't anything on. He paused on a news station that was airing the tail end of a coverage segment of the event the Woman was at. It must have been a really big deal then if it was on tv. He noted how beautiful she looked on tv and hadn't paid much attention to what was being said; she was talking to the news broadcaster about whatever it was they were launching. He noted her confident posture, the sparkle of excitement in her eyes and lastly, his eyes settled on her mouth as she spoke. He had been obsessing over her mouth for a while now; ever since she'd kissed him.

She had just broken up with the Weakling that night. He had gone to her quarters to make sure she was alright; she had been extremely upset when she had come home and it had bothered him because he had never seen her like that before. After a few hours of actual real conversation on the balcony of her room for once instead of their usual bickering and arguing, she had leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

It had been the kindest, gentlest gesture he had ever experienced from another being. His first instinct had been to scowl at her and insult her for her audacity at taking such a freedom on his person, but instead he took her chin and kissed her back. To his surprise, she had not recoiled from him or slapped him as he had seen on the entertainment programs he knew the woman enjoyed; but she kissed him back. Shyly at first, but then grew bolder and slid her tongue into his mouth, lightly brushing his own. It had been at that moment that he abruptly ended the kiss and took to the sky as fast as he could to get as far away as he could from her.

After he had taken off, he hadn't returned for three days. He had contemplated everything from stealing another one of her father's ships again and leaving, never to return to blowing up this whole backwards planet. In the end, he returned with a firm resolve to leave her alone. The harder he worked at having nothing to do with her, the more consumed he seemed to become with her. He had found himself daydreaming of what else she could do to him with that mouth and soft lips of hers, like right now at that moment while he watched her on the tv. Never had he allowed a female to hold his attention for more than a fleeting moment and it was driving him crazy. He growled at her image in the screen and was just about to change the channel when the camera panned over and he caught sight of the Weakling.

 _What is he doing th_ ere? He grumbled to himself. He then began to listen to the broadcast, which went into a side story about the recent demise of their relationship and possible engagement. He snorted as he saw the Weakling parading around with some supposedly well-known model. She was alright as far as Earth females went but couldn't hold a candle to Bulma in his opinion.

"What a fool." He mumbled as he finally changed the channel. What difference did it make that her weakling ex-boyfriend showed up at her event with another woman? He had been on this planet for nearly a year now and he still did not understand these humans constant desire to know the business of the higher ups. On his planet it was none of anyone's business and no one would have had the audacity to report on the comings and goings of the royal family to the degree these humans seemed to obsess over this need to know the comings and goings of those considered privileged.

He didn't understand how the Woman was able to stand it. She was always being followed by fools with cameras, bringing home magazines where she was on the cover. Usually she was angry about some mysterious "source" that had spoken to these people and it almost always came out as a negative half-truth. He had laughed until he had almost cried one day when she came back from the supermarket in a tizzy with one of those stupid magazines.

Someone had snapped several pictures of them both outside during one of their usual arguments. It looked pretty heated from the pictures. The headline had read something silly about the Briefs Heiress having a heated and scandalous love affair with this dark mysterious stranger while the Weakling was on the road during game season. It had been so comical he had even kept that issue.

Supposedly this "affair" of theirs had been going on for several months behind the Weakling's back. A "source" apparently close to the Woman had confirmed that he came and went in the wee hours of the night to keep their affair secret and the apparent cause of their spat in those pictures was him giving her a supposed ultimatum of either Him or the Weakling. He agreed that this "source" probably had it half right. The argument in those pictures had taken place outside the Gravity Room. He probably _had_ given her an ultimatum: Fix the Gravity Room now or else. What had really made him laugh was the speculation of who he was. The conclusion had been that he must have been a European male model what with his exotic good looks and perfectly chiseled body. It had been an ego boost to say the least.

He chuckled now at the memory of it. She had been so angry and mortified about it. Even the Weakling had seen it and they'd had a huge argument and hadn't been on speaking terms for several weeks about it. He had shrugged it off. In his opinion she should have been beyond flattered that the public would think he was having an affair with her. It was not every day someone had the privilege of being romantically linked to the Prince of all Saiyans. He wasn't all that upset that it had been her. It could have been worse. At least she was intelligent and attractive. Not like some of the other Earth females he'd seen since his arrival.

The blue-haired Woman was an exceptional specimen. If he ever were to put down roots on this weak back water planet, it would be with her anyway. Though at this point in his life, he still had far too many things to yet accomplish. He did not need the distraction. He needed to become a Super Saiyan. Then he needed to help defeat those stupid androids that mysterious boy from the future prophesied. Then once that was done he would defeat Kakarott once and for all and claim his place as superior warrior over the entire universe. He wasn't sure what he would do after that. Would he stay here and settle down with her? The thought upon further meditation seemed highly unlikely. He was not the settling down type. He knew from her rants over the Weakling that she wanted something long term and lasting. That wasn't him.

Maybe he would leave and take her with him? He snorted at the thought; no not likely. If he left here, he would leave on his own. He wasn't accustomed to having to look after someone else. Let alone a weak human female with the energy signature equivalent to that of a common house cat. All they did was fight and argue anyway. What escape would he have while in the middle of the galaxy in a space ship with only the two of them when she began screeching at him in one of her tantrums? No, he was better off alone.

He wasn't sure why, but the thought of leaving her here didn't sit well with him either. He desired her. He had finally accepted that over the past few months and he knew that she desired him as well. He had been ignoring her as best he could when she was around, but he knew she wanted him. However, he did not want a commitment. She was looking for a long-term commitment from someone. If he did take her up on anything, he knew it would be purely lust driven on his end. A way to satisfy this desire he had felt burning inside of him to have her, consume her. It would not last though. Once he'd taken his fill of her, he would leave her, as the Weakling had and then she would be hurt. He did not want to hurt her or be the reason why she was hurting again. It angered him that she had been hurt these past few months when her relationship with the weakling had ended. She'd put on a good front, but he could tell she was still hurting from what had happened. He did not want to make that worse for some reason. So he left her alone and admired her from afar, even though that was becoming more and more difficult for him to do. When he did have to interact, he found himself flirting with her rather than insulting her.

With those thoughts, Vegeta drifted off into a light sleep on the couch with the tv still on for a while. He had no idea what time it was or how long he had been out when he heard the front door open and slam. He sat up on the couch and immediately recognized the Woman's ki. He got up off the couch, shut off the tv and went to the kitchen. There she was, somewhat inebriated he guessed from the way she smelled.

"Save it, I'm not in the mood." She said harshly, walking past him.

"What are you huffing about, Woman?" he asked in a somewhat amused tone, leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed watching her as she grabbed a left over cinnamon roll.

"Stupid Yamcha." She mumbled. "Just had to show up tonight with his latest conquest to rub it in my face. Of course it just had to be some Victoria's Secret model." She ranted, peeling off pieces of the roll and putting them in her mouth.

"What's a Victoria's Secret model?" he asked with a frown.

She sighed irritably. "Only the most beautiful women in the world work for Victoria's Secret. You know what, never mind."

"I saw it on the television." He nodded.

"What?"

"The Weakling at your function with a new woman."

She sighed again in aggravation. "It's already been on tv?"

He nodded.

"Great. That's just wonderful. This is the most important night for Capsule Corporation in years. My father and I have worked so hard on developing this. It's taken us five years from the time we came up with this line to finish it and launch it successfully and the only thing anyone cares about is stupid Yamcha showing up with his new girlfriend?" she vented angrily. "What did they say?"

"I do not remember. I was not exactly interested in the Weakling's affairs. I was not aware that he had an invitation."

"He didn't! He knew when it was, of course. He just decided to crash it with his hot new girlfriend and ruin my life more than he already has." She said dejectedly, her speech slightly slurred. "Now do you know why I asked you to come with me? After everything I've done for you, you couldn't have done me this one simple favor. But then again, what was I thinking in the first place? Vegeta the almighty Prince of all Saiyans doesn't care about anyone or anything but himself. You're nothing but a selfish asshole. So the joke's on me, huh?"

Vegeta stood there and regarded her with a cool expression for a moment. He supposed he somewhat deserved that. However, it was not his responsibility to escort her around and shelter her from that idiot. She was a strong woman, or so he had thought. He had never seen her look so defeated and vulnerable a she did at this moment. "I would have thought you could handle the Weakling on your own. You do not need my help. From what I can recall from your spats, you can hold your own well enough."

"Yeah, okay." She replied rolling her eyes, opening the fridge. "And when he shows up with some gorgeous supermodel bombshell on his arm? And adding insult to injury, she happens to be the girl he cheated on me with? I can't compete with that." She muttered, grabbing an unopened bottle of wine and placing it on the countertop.

"You should not have to feel the need to compete with that." He said blandly. "If you do, you're not who I thought you were."

She turned and looked at him a moment trying to figure out if he had just insulted her or complimented her. "Whatever, Vegeta. Like I said, I'm not in the mood to do this with you right now. You wouldn't understand anyway." She said, opening the bottle of wine and pouring herself a healthy glass.

He smirked at her and reached for one of the last cinnamon rolls.

She looked at him again for a moment. Reaching into the cupboard and grabbing another glass, she handed it to him. "Come keep me company." She said, walking past him and heading up the stairs.

"And why would I want to do that?" he asked arrogantly.

"You got anything better to do." she replied, not stopping. "Plus you owe me for ditching out on me tonight!"

"I did not ditch, Woman!" he shouted, stomping up the stairs after her. "I never agreed to come to your blasted event in the first place!" he growled, following her into her bedroom and out onto her balcony.

"Well I was still hoping you might at least make an appearance." She said almost petulantly. "Would that have been so much to ask?"

"Woman, why is this such a big deal to you?" he asked irritably, taking the bottle from her and pouring himself a glass.

"I don't know." She confessed in a small voice. Truth be told, she really didn't know why she was so hurt that he hadn't agreed to go with her. Vegeta was as antisocial as they came. She knew from the moment she had even considered asking him to accompany her that the odds were slim to none that he just might care enough to make an appearance for her sake, but she was hoping that just maybe he cared for her even just a little bit to put himself out there for a few hours for her. Though who was she kidding? Just because Vegeta had shown her a moment of decency and concern a few months back when she and Yamcha had broken up didn't mean he was reformed from being a complete douchebag.

She had obsessed over that kiss they had shared that night; what was it almost three months ago now? It had been so unexpected. One minute she was in bed crying over what had happened between her and Yamcha the next she and Vegeta were chilling out on her balcony having an actual civil conversation much like they were at the moment. She had replayed the incident over and over again in her mind. For some reason she had decided to kiss him on the cheek; she wasn't sure why. It just felt right at the moment. Maybe she had been just grateful to have a listening ear. Maybe it was because for once he hadn't been a complete ass to her. Either way, a moment had just seemed to pass between them. And then he had taken the initiative and kissed her. To say she was shocked would be an understatement. When her brain had finally processed that Vegeta had just kissed her, she had kissed him back carefully. She had noted before on several occasions that he had a nice mouth. His lips were surprisingly soft. Considering the acidic nature of nearly everything that came out of his mouth the thought that his lips could feel so soft surprised her.

She had then made a mistake; she had decided to deepen it, slipping her tongue in his mouth. She still didn't know why, but he had taken off into the air and had disappeared for three or four days, then avoided her like the plague once he had returned. To say she was more than a little offended was the truth. She hadn't kissed many guys, but she'd never received a reaction like that. It had plagued her. Had he been disgusted? Had she had bad breath? It even occurred to her that maybe he had never kissed a woman before and she had frightened him off. Maybe she had been too bold? She didn't really know anything about his culture. Maybe she had broken some rule in the laws of Saiyan courtship? She didn't know, but she was so frustrated and confused. She had wanted to talk to him about it but hadn't been sure how to bring it up.

After a few days of him avoiding her upon his return, he finally, in his typical belligerent nature, barged into her lab demanding she fix the Gravity Room yet again. They bickered and argued all the way outside and she had decided to leave it alone, seeing that things were more or less back to normal for them. However he did flirt with her a little more than he used to, or his tone wasn't as abrasive as it used to be since that night. She didn't know if he was interested in her or not. So far anything she tried to do to get his attention resulted in him ignoring her completely. She didn't know what to make of it.

Bulma bit her bottom lip, looking at his mouth; wondering if he'd ever kiss her again. What she wouldn't give to have him kiss her again. She turned away from him, feeling her cheeks reddening at her thoughts. "Sorry." She mumbled, looking out at the city lights. It was already dark out.

"Sorry for what, Woman?" he asked, standing next to her, leaning across the railing and looking at the city lights as well, sipping his wine. He should not have followed her up here. It was a bad idea. Last time had been a bad idea. Why was he here again?

"I don't know." She said, shaking her head. "Just ignore me; I'm tipsy and a little more than upset. Not at you, just upset in general."

He nodded and looked at her. "Woman, why are you so upset?" Once again, it bothered him that she was upset. He didn't know why he even cared enough to ask, but he found himself asking before his mind caught up with his mouth so now he was stuck.

"It's just, he knew what this event meant to me." She started with a heavy sigh. "I'm still hurt and angry with him over his cheating. It doesn't bug me that he came. It bugs me that he came with _Her_. Why would he do that? We've only been broken up a few months but it still feels fresh. He had to know how much that would upset me that he brought her. He could have brought any girl in the world but her. Why would he do that, Vegeta?"

Vegeta shrugged. "He's a low class weakling. What did you expect?"

"I don't know. He can't be that much of a loser. He's dating a supermodel. He's moved up in the world obviously." She said dejectedly, pouring herself some more wine.

"So what?" he replied. "What does that matter?"

"Vegeta, she's one of the most beautiful women in the world. She's been on two Sports Illustrated covers."

He shrugged, not having any idea what a Sports Illustrated cover was. "So?"

"So she's a big deal, Vegeta. Excuse me if my ego is just a little more than deflated at the moment. My big night eclipsed over Yamcha's new flame, who isn't just any woman."

"Woman, your whining over this is pathetic." He sighed. "So what? Who cares who this woman is and that the Weakling has somehow charmed her. How unfortunate for her that she is dumb enough to give him the time of day. I saw her on the television; I do not see what the big deal is. In my opinion, it is a major step down for him."

She looked at him again, a small smile spreading across her lips. So he _had_ complemented her earlier. It wasn't an outright compliment, but a compliment none the less. "Hmm. Thank you. Coming from you, that means a lot."

"Well do not read too much into it." he bristled, almost regretting mentioning that to her. However, he couldn't help that he thought she was beautiful. He always had; since the moment he had first laid eyes on her on Namek; though he had kept that information mostly to himself.

"Uh huh, yeah, okay." She chuckled, rolling her eyes at him. "Don't worry, I won't. But still, that's very sweet of you."

"Hmmn." He replied, finishing his glass of wine quickly, feeling that he had already stayed too long. Before he could leave, she reached over and refilled his glass. He looked at her and sighed. Great, now he had to stay longer. Why did he always put himself in these compromising predicaments with her?

"I'm glad you're here." She slurred slightly.

"Are you, now?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup." She nodded, letting the "p" pop. "I enjoy your company."

He chuckled dryly. "I thought I was nothing more than a selfish asshole."

"Well, you are. Most of the time." She shrugged. "But you have your moments when you're not so bad to be around."

He nodded and did not reply. Truth be told, he enjoyed her company as well. A few minutes passed as they both enjoyed companionable silence.

"So, did you have an unpleasant run in with the Weakling?" he asked casually.

"Kinda, yeah." She nodded.

"Well either you did or you did not." He said rather irritably.

She sighed. "Fine, I did, alright? And I don't feel like talking about it anymore."

He nodded and didn't say anything, just sipped his wine.

"Thanks for asking though," she replied after a minute, feeling bad for snapping at him like that. "I appreciate it."

He nodded again, not saying anything in reply. He intended on quickly finishing his glass of wine and then going to bed.

"Well, if you're not planning on having anymore wine, I'm going to take this bottle and finish it off in a nice hot bath." She slurred. "Wanna join me?"

"You cannot be serious." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Why not?" She asked with a drunken giggle. "It might be fun."

"Do what you want. I am going to bed." He replied, downing the bottom of his glass, ignoring her invitation. "You sure you're fit to have a bath?"

"Hmmm, You're right." She said, heading into her bedroom from the balcony and began unbuttoning her jacket, "I'm not going to need this in the bath." She slurred, removing it and tossing it on her bed, revealing that she had indeed been only wearing a lacy delicate white bra underneath the jacket.

"What are you doing?" Vegeta asked in disbelief as she began unzipping her skirt and let it fall to the floor. She now was only in a very delicate white lacy bra and matching panties, her stay up fishnet stockings and white heels. She seemed completely oblivious to his presence just outside her room at this point. _I should leave._ He kept saying to himself, though he could not bring himself to turn around and leave. "Are you flirting with me?" he choked out.

She looked at him in shock as though she had completely forgotten he was there. She looked down at herself, and back up at him in alarm, embarrassed that he had seen her in her underwear. "Was I?"

He exhaled deeply. "I believe so." He said awkwardly, trying to keep his gaze locked on her face and not let it wonder to her exposed body. _I should go now, really._

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." She said, looking down and covering her chest up delicately with her arms. "It's just, these past few months I've been so lonely and have felt so unwanted." She said dejectedly, walking up to him slowly, modestly crossing her arms across her chest, her eyes locking on his, revealing sadness in their blue depths. "You've been the first person to show me any kindness and I realized that you have to be lonely too, the last member of your race. I can't imagine what that must be like. I want to get to know you better. You must want that too," she rambled on, swaying slightly as she walked up to him slowly.

He looked at her in amazement, taking in her flawless figure as she approached him slowly, almost as though she were unsure. She was so beautiful yet so vulnerable in this moment. He was speechless; still wrapping his mind around the fact that she had just taken her clothes off in front of him.

"Or you still would not be here, right?" she asked, stopping in front of him and looking at him intensely.

He swallowed hard, trying to figure out what to say back to her. Why _was_ he still standing there? If she weren't intoxicated, he would simply just laugh at her scornfully and tell her how ridiculous she was being and then leave but in her current frame of mind, he knew that his usual rebuff would only hurt her. She wasn't herself. Though he wasn't sure why he cared about her feelings.

He thought a moment about what she had just said to him. A part of him did want to let her in, selfishly drown inside of her, let her comfort all of his past hurts. The other part of him adamantly refused to let her in. She was delicate and innocent. She deserved someone so much better than him. He wasn't capable of what she was looking for and he knew that.

He stood there awkwardly, looking at her as she leaned in closer to him. He could smell her; she always smelled so good to him. She looked at his lips then back into his eyes. She seemed to be waiting for him to do something.

He looked back at her and gazed quickly at her lips, they were parted slightly; and then back at her blue orbs, which were still looking at him expectantly as though she were waiting for him to make the next move. Without thinking it through any further and the consequences, he leaned in and kissed her.

She immediately kissed him back hungrily, almost aggressively, sliding her tongue into his mouth boldly. This time, instead of fleeing from her, he kissed her back, demanding entrance, which she granted to him immediately, opening her mouth to him. Their tongues explored each other's mouths urgently, dueling the other for dominance. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss and he responded by placing his hands on her hips and harshly pulling her body tightly against his own.

Bulma moaned into his mouth as he pulled her closer to him, she ran her hands through his thick spiky hair, pleasantly surprised by how soft it was. She had always wondered what his hair felt like. She had always assumed it would be rough in texture, as the rest of him was. She tangled her fingers in his hair and continued to kiss him back with everything she had, just in case it never happened again. She knew she was a little more than tipsy and only hoped she would remember every detail of this moment in the morning. She was thrilled to her very core. No one, not even Yamcha had kissed her like that. Ever. She felt like her whole body was on fire; she felt almost as though he we consuming her very soul as he continued to kiss her within an inch of her life.

Vegeta relished the feeling of her small body against his well-disciplined hard form. He had wondered many times over the past several weeks how her body would feel pressed up against his. She was like a perfect fit. He allowed his right hand to travel gently up her back and then back down, caressing her soft skin; exploring the curves of her delicate body where it came to a rest, cupping her firm bum as he continued to kiss her deeply.

She happened to break their kiss, just for the sheer need for air. She swallowed hard and looked wide-eyed at him in complete disbelief at what had just happened. He looked back at her with a wild, almost unreadable expression on his face. She couldn't tell if he was surprised, angry, excited or what.

He suddenly let her go. He looked back at her and saw desire there; a desire that seemingly matched his own at that moment. How could she desire him after everything he had done? _She's inebriated._ He reminded himself almost in despair. Therefore, he could not give into his own desire. Not now. Not this time. He knew it would be so easy at this moment; she would not turn him away. Part of him was raging at him to pick her up and continue this just a few feet away in her bed. The other part of him; his pride and what was left of his moral code would not let him take her this way.

"Hmmn." He smirked at her once he had gotten himself under control. "Lusty wench." He said, leaning in, kissing her chastely on the lips and then leaving.

She watched him take off into the sky and briefly wondered if it would be another week before she saw him again. She shrugged and went back out onto the balcony, grabbing the bottle of wine and continued back to her bathroom to have a nice hot bath as planned.

-0-0-0-

The next morning, Bulma rolled over and moaned, squeezing her eyes shut willing the headache she had away. _What happened last night?_ She wondered. Aside from drinking too much wine, she could not remember much. She did however remember getting into a heated argument with Yamcha over his disrespect in showing up with his new girlfriend in tow. She then remembered leaving because she was so angry and hurt. She didn't remember much after that. She remembered a rather erotic dream last night featuring Vegeta. He had actually been nice to her, shared a bottle of wine with her on her balcony, which had somehow ended in her taking off her clothes and making out with him passionately for several minutes straight before he left again like he had last time.

She smiled to herself, her stomach doing somersaults and flips at the memory of it. _Damn he had been a good kisser._ She thought. She laid there a moment and felt something on top of her comforter, she leaned up onto her elbows and noticed her white suit jacket laying on her bed. Not far was her skirt and on the dresser the bottle of wine she had finished, just like in her dream. She fell back into her pillow, wiling herself to go back to sleep and sleep off this headache.

She lay there in silence, contemplating her dream suddenly sat up in alarm. _That was no dream!_ She realized, looking at her balcony; the door was still opened too.

"Oh my god!" she moaned, covering her mouth with her hand. She had completely embarrassed herself last night in her drunken state! How would she ever be able to face Vegeta again? Maybe he left like the last time she'd kissed him only this time he'd maybe not come back. Ever.

As she sat there, writhing in her utter and complete mortification just wishing the floor of her bedroom would open up and swallow her whole, she heard the Gravity Room turn on. "Of course I'm not that lucky!" she groaned.

She thought for a moment. He hadn't left. Obviously he was still there. He hadn't seemed angry from what she could recall. "Ugh, whatever, I'll worry about it later." She groaned, pulling her comforter tightly around her and over her head and falling asleep again.


End file.
